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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India is driving the global economy today and witnessing not just high growth but also psychological renaissance.

Recalling British times when India’s slack growth rate was referred to as the Hindu rate of growth, the PM on Saturday said this term was used by colonialists to defame and undermine an entire faith and civilisation.

Dwelling on the consequences of inferiority complex the British bred into Indians to rule them, Modi said it was ironical that the “so-called intellectuals who find communalism in everything did not see communalism in the term Hindu rate of growth which even found its way onto books and research papers during their era”.

“India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world, a global growth engine and powerhouse. But despite India’s rapid growth no one refers to our progress as the Hindu rate of growth. But this term was used when India struggled for growth rates of 2-3 per cent. Linking a country’s growth to the religion or identity of its people could not have happened inadvertently. This was a deliberate colonial strategy. An entire society and tradition was equated with unproductivity and poverty, with attempts made to prove that India’s slow growth was due to Hindu civilization and culture. The irony is that those so-called intellectuals who find communalism in everything failed to see communalism in the term Hindu rate of growth, which was made a part of books and research papers during their era,” said the PM while speaking at a media event.

Modi said every sector today was shedding the old colonial mindset and aiming for new achievements with pride. “Our pace is constant. Our direction is consistent. Our intent is always nation first,” said the PM, adding that today India was becoming the key growth engine of the global economy.

“When the world talks of a slowdown, India writes a story of growth. When the world faces a crisis of trust, India acts as a pillar of trust. When the world advances towards fragmentation, India is a bridge builder,” he noted.